Spice & Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf

Episode 23

Lawrence has it rough. He didn't even cause this arc's big conflict (for once), and he's still getting blamed for it. Scapegoats and skedaddling are the running themes in this week's episode of Spice & Wolf. There's a big payment owed on the horizon but neither Holo nor Lawrence are keen to stick around Tereo long enough to become the currency.

Let's start with some trivia/agricultural advice. Enberch attributes the wheat-borne death to “Ridelius' hellfire,” which resembles an actual parasite, the fungus ergot. When ingested by humans, the fungal metabolites cause ergotism, also known as St. Anthony's fire, which can induce seizures, gangrene, and death. Medieval Europe was familiar with the disease but physicians didn't connect it to the fungal bodies until 1676, so you could quibble that the people of Spice & Wolf's time wouldn't have known to blame the wheat specifically for the death. On the other hand, this setting also has women with wolf ears wandering around, so it hardly seems like a stretch to presume they're further along with germ theory than our world would have been. We can allow some artistic liberty now and then.

Moreover, there's every likelihood that the wheat had nothing to do with the death. There's no way to prove or disprove it, and the cause is secondary to its function: the crowbar that will wrest Tereo from their cushy trading arrangement with Enberch. It's a convenient excuse, nothing more. Similarly, when pressed, the villagers seek the path of least resistance and point their fingers at the most readily available scapegoats: the detestable miller and the two new outsiders. Spice & Wolf is careful not to make Tereo a monolith of small-town prejudice; the elder expresses the nuances of how his feelings must intersect with the public's will, and Iima is quick to lend our heroes a hand. But the story doesn't shy away from the tendency and danger of mob mentality either.

That's why I love that Holo and Lawrence both conclude the right move is to get the hell outta Dodge. It's cowardly, it's smart, and it's correct. Generally speaking, audiences expect protagonists of fiction to be good people. We like to see them be selfless, reckless, heroic, and inspiring. They're opportunities for us to imagine humanity at its best, persisting in spite of the slings and arrows that the world throws at them. But that's not how Holo and Lawrence operate. They're not heroes; they're a merchant and a wolf. If Lawrence saw an opportunity for profit, I'm sure he'd stick around and help Tereo negotiate but he has neither emotional nor mercantile attachment to the townsfolk. He'd rather cut his losses and run, and that's totally in line with his character. That's honest writing. His and Holo's cool heads also contrast them against the scattershot anger of the locals. Their brains are their greatest assets, and it's great to see the narrative showcase them in these subtle, down-to-earth ways.

Holo and Lawrence might not be saints, but they're not monsters either. They return Evan and Elsa's kindness by protecting and giving them an out. This, too, is transactional in a way that befits the thinking of a merchant, but I believe we can give Holo and Lawrence a little more credit than that. As two wanderers without a home, they're sympathetic to people like Evan and Elsa who live on the fringes of society. Lawrence wonderfully demonstrates this when he hands Evan his coin purse as collateral. Everyone in the village thinks Evan is a greedy tax collector, but Lawrence, with this gesture, implicitly tells him that he trusts him.

I also like the anticlimax to Holo's Yoitsu research. Their journey is far from over, so it makes sense for the narrative to keep stringing the audience along. But more specifically, I like how Holo and Lawrence handle this anticlimax. It's quiet. Holo is understandably disappointed, but she picks herself up quickly, and the two of them resume bantering again after a pause. They're stronger than ever together. It's a ridiculously romantic moment. However, business sadly comes before pleasure, and the gang has to escape Tereo before they can start thinking about business.

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Spice & Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He still knows "The Wolf Whistling Song" by heart. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.